Crackdown on animal rights extremists

Animal rights protesters guilty of "economic damage" to research laboratories or their suppliers will face up to five years in jail, under new legislation being introduced by the government today.

After years of mounting campaigns, most notably against Huntingdon Life Sciences and a new research facility at Oxford University, a series of new powers first mentioned in the Queen's speech will enable the police to ban demonstrators from specific properties for three months.

In addition, a new offence of "economic damage" through campaign of intimidation will be added to the serious organised crime and police bill in the Commons.

Following increasingly successful attempts to shut down suppliers and contractors to the vivisection industry, bio-science firms had increasingly lobbied the government for greater powers of protection.

Today the trade and industry secretary, Patricia Hewitt, told the BBC: "We can't have these extremists going way beyond the bounds of peaceful protest into these vicious campaigns of intimidation which have not been stopped by individual laws.

"The law that we are proposing is the right response to what is becoming a growing problem and which is threatening to destroy a very important part of medical research in our country."

Companies that deal with the animal research industry, including couriers and cleaners will also be protected from intimidation, while police will be given powers to arrest anyone protesting outside the home of scientists.

Powers will also be introduced to ban protesters from the vicinity of someone's house for three months.

Anyone found guilty of causing harm to an animal research organisation will face a five-year prison term.

The move follows a series of attacks on centres such as the Huntingdon Life Sciences site and a guinea pig farm in east Staffordshire.

Police recorded over 450 incidents at Newchurch farm at Darley Oaks between February 2003 and last month. Activists have relentlessly targeted the farm, which is run by Chris Hall and his family, since 1999.

In the most recent incident, the remains of Mr Hall's mother-in-law, Gladys Hammond, were stolen from her grave.

The family say they have also suffered hate mail, malicious phone calls, hoax bombs, a paedophile campaign and arson attacks.

Extremists also launched more than 100 attacks on the homes of Huntingdon Life Sciences laboratory workers last year. They involved night-time raids, car vandalism and the daubing of graffiti on front doors and walls.

The company has been the target of a four-year campaign of violence and Cambridgeshire Constabulary say they have spent more than 35,000 working hours dealing with animal rights activists since 2000.

In one of the worst incidents managing director Brian Cass was beaten with baseball bats by three masked attackers. Employees of firms dealing with Huntingdon have also been targeted, with one having his car tyres slashed as he sat in his vehicle.

Last month the research company also lost a key supplier, BOC, which had provided bottled gas until the activists' campaign forced it to back out.

The government believes that such attacks threaten medical breakthroughs in the fields of Aids, cancer and Alzheimer's disease.